Resource Guide

about us

BackgroundMoving to a new country is exciting - and at times it can be a challenge. Being expats ourselves at CERN and in the Geneva area, we went through the “newcomer” experience that many of you will or have already gone through. Sometimes it was difficult to find information that was easily available in the places we lived before.With the help of others we found what we needed. What we've collected here addresses most needs on the systems in France and Switzerland, and the particularities of “life along the border”. To make things easier for the ones arriving after us we've presented it in an easy to use format.

We hope you find what you are looking for. We wish you a good start and a fun stay in the Geneva area!All the best,

Founders

Lori HakulinenWebmaster, The Newcomer Center. Web designer: Cern Women's Club. Member of Democrats Abroad. Worked at the UN Office in Geneva. Background in desktop publishing.

Angelika SitzWorked in legal research, as a trainer in adult education and in advisory services. Background in law and education.

acknowledgements

Many people have contributed to make this site and our welcome meetings a reality. We want to express special thanks to Sandy Price (1943-2009) for collecting much of the experiential information on these pages and starting the women's group that lead us here.

Many others shared their information, knowledge and experience collected during their stay in the area with us, some helped us connect to other people who would take our idea further, and a great number of friends supported us by simply encouraging our ideas. We want to thank them all!

ContributorsAlexia Leyval: relocation coordinator at ATLAS for her content contributions Steve Goldfarb: for great ideas & linksSotiria Dimou: for technical web support - and good ideas

Want to Contribute?There is a lot of information out there that we are continuing to collect including new info for local businesses, organizations, restaurants, shops, household services, and more. We think of it as a project of solidarity - of passing on what we have learned to the next ones who arrive. Tips, updates, corrections and new information are more than welcome. If you want to contribute, help with the project, share your experiences, or give us feedback we look forward to hearing from you!